In an attempt to eliminate the bombardment of irrelevant commercials that one is exposed to on a daily bases, while staying within a budget, I rewired a standard one gang electrical outlet receptacle with an 110/120 volt three position toggle switch (ON, OFF, ON). The rewiring allowed for the top outlet to be hot when the toggle was up (ON) and the bottom outlet would be OFF. Conversely, the bottom outlet would be hot when the toggle was down (ON) and the top outlet would be OFF. When the toggle switch was flipped to the middle position (OFF), both outlets would be off.
With this newly rewired receptacle, I was able to insert the 3.5 mm plug from a set of amplified external speakers into my headphone port on the side of my television. The external speakers were provided power by plugging their AC adapter into the top outlet on my rewired receptacle. The bottom outlet on my rewired receptacle provided power to my “BOOM BOX.” Flipping my three position toggle switch up turned on my television audio while flipping the toggle switch down would “Silence” my television audio and turn on my “BOOM BOX” radio.—My rewired receptacle is the origin of the Television Commercial Silencer Electrical Wall Outlet Receptacle Tap.
As time went on and the “benefits” of silencing burdensome television commercials became apparent to me, it was noticed that tethering to a toggle switch was inconvenient. Therefore, I took my same rewired outlet receptacle and I added some more electronics to the work box (Wireless Receiver Module). Adding the wireless receiver module with a hand held remote control allowed for silencing television commercials from anywhere in my home and turning on the radio at the same time.
After noticing that at times there were just as many commercials on the radio as on the television, I plugged my MP3 player into the bottom outlet of my rewired receptacle instead of my radio. My MP3 player was so small that I thought that it might just fit inside my rewired receptacle work box—it did!
The possibilities began to unfold and I was determined to “shove” a radio inside my rewired receptacle work box as well. However, a single gang outlet receptacle work box can only hold so much “stuff.”—Went to a two gang and then a three gang outlet receptacle work box, increasing size as space was needed for the components. Added receptacles and wiring and electronics as space permitted.
My one gang, two gang and three gang “Television Commercial Silencers” all work great! Some of them provide more features and functions then others (My 3 gang work box even has WiFi modules so that the unit's remote controlled outlets can be controlled from a Smart Phone) (Implying, there will be: “An APP for that”—Inclusion of the Voice Commands API during APP development will allow for Voice Control of the Television Commercial Silencer Electrical Wall Outlet Receptacle Tap [Online and Offline Modes are desirable] and technology such as “Bluetooth Smart” during APP development will allow for Auto Detection and Configuration of audio devices near by the Television Commercial Silencer Electrical Wall Outlet Receptacle Tap) but they all do what they were designed to do: Silence television commercials while at the same time turning on NOT just a radio but an audio device of one's own choosing, including a computer's audio system. However, the work boxes started to become bulky and complex; hence, the birth of the user friendly Television Commercial Silencer Electrical Wall Outlet Receptacle Tap.